A blog from the Teaching Artists in Chicago Opera Theater's outreach and education programs

Friday, February 11, 2011

From the Composer

Adam Busch, COT Teaching Artist - Composer

What a FUN-tastic time we had at Calmeca, Clinton and Hampton schools!! We laughed...a TON, and learned even more!!!

Using our 'music meter' (an octave scale)--the kids were able to select notes, 1 through 8, to create AMAZING melodies. Their thought process was very clear. They identified the story each lyric was telling, then matched the rise and fall of the notes with the emotions and key words of the lyric--even making edits for meter where neccessary.

Unbelievably, through all of our laughing, we completed the songs and all are strikingly unique. In just 3 short sessions of 45 minutes the students created a total of seven songs. From the funky "Clothes were Groovy" disco, to the demanding "Chocolate Milk song", to the cravings of "I Can't Wait for Dessert", and the joys of "Pizza Day".

What a great program! It will be exciting now for these kids to learn and share their songs AND perform them in May!!